Police have arrested nine men, including two from Cornwall, during a major child abuse investigation.

The offences are not linked but are part of Operation Cosford which is aimed at sending a clear message to criminals possessing indecent child images that they will be caught.

The arrests, seven in Devon and two at unknown locations in Cornwall, took place in the past few days.

The men, suspected of possessing and distributing indecent images of children, are aged between 26 and 78.

All of them have been released on police bail pending further investigations.

Detective Inspector Simon Snell head of Devon and of Cornwall Police child exploitation unit said 18 computers had been seized and would be examined by the force's hi-tech crime unit.

He added: “We received intelligence from other forces and the child online protection centre in London. As well as computers we also seized printed images, DVDs CDs and USB devises.

“The men are not part of a gang, these are all separate incidents. There is an emerging trend with people using indecent child images. We brought them together to make it know that we are taking this crime seriously and sending a clear message that one day offenders will be caught.”

Det Insp Snell said the force's first commitment was safeguarding children and similar operations would be mounted in future.

Comments

75 percent of sex gang attacks are caused by Caucasians and other ethnic groups other than Asians. Surely if 75% of sexual exploitation is not coming from Asian Gangs then they shouldn't be the only or even the main focus. Jimmy Saville wasn't Asian and nor were the Catholic priests who perpetrated decades of abuse, and there must be many more like them out there. Of course Asian gangs are one part of the jigsaw, but only one part Two words.. Jimmy Saville.. White people have been getting away with this for years and nobody has mentioned race!!!People should be causing an uproar against all paedophiles regardless of ethnicity. These are vile predatory beasts and the uproar should be about eradicating them. Social services are hiding in the background because they are the ones responsible for these vulnerable children. So 75% (the majority) of sex abuse are NOT committed by these gangs. How many articles has dedicated to the other 75%, besides just reporting the incidents? How many article after article has dedicated to the other victims? It says: "NSPCC says there is danger of 'turning a blind eye' to abusers' ethnicity" — so why has there never been a focus on "ethnicity" when the perpetrator is a white man? What makes a victim (75% of all victims) less worthy of attention just because they are NOT abused by these gangs? It's a sad, sad day when victims are IGNORED because people have social and political agendas.
The majority of child abuse is NOT gang based and is carried out by non Asians. The majority (75%) of child abuse that is gang based is NON ASIAN. So out of the ten thousand poor girls that are abused each year in the UK a very small percent of them – an extremely small percent of them are abused by Asians. Why doesn't DM generalise and imply all BBC employees are child abusers?Whoever was responsible one fact remains – the police and child agencies simply didn't do their job protecting innocent white girls. In any other job if you don't do your job properly you get sacked. It's only when police and the agencies involved are sacked.
Thousands of children are sexually abused by gangs and groups in England each year, according to a report. The Office of Children's Commissioner study says there were 2,409 victims in the 14 months to October 2011 – but the true number is likely to be far higher.The report also identifies 16,500 children who were at "high risk of sexual exploitation" in 2010-11. David Cameron told the House of Commons the report was "extremely disturbing" and should be studied carefully. The report, titled "I thought I was the only one – the only one in the world", sets out the findings from the first year of a two-year inquiry. It is the first study to set out the scale of the sexual exploitation of children and young people. It comes in the wake of the jailing in May of nine Asian men for grooming an sexually exploiting white girls as young as 13 in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. It draws on figures for sexual abuse, young offending and child health from local authorities, police, health services, voluntary agencies and children and young people.
The deputy children's commissioner, Sue Berelowitz, said the evidence indicated the perpetrators "come from all ethnic groups and so do their victims, contrary to what some may wish to believe". She cautioned the "model" of Asian men preying on white girls was just one of "a number of models". "The failure of agencies to recognise this means that too many child victims are not getting the protection and support they so desperately need," Ms Berelowitz added. Analysis of the reported ethnicity of more than 1,500 alleged perpetrators showed that about a third were white, the largest ethnic group. "The reality is that each year thousands of children in England are raped and abused by people seeking to humiliate, violate and control them," said Ms Berelowitz.
IA